Page 103 of Where We Belong

“Since the moment I looked at the security cameras months ago and found out you’d started doing the cleaning in the middle of the night. That told me all I needed to know.”

I pinch my lips, but can only resist all of two seconds before I start laughing. Mom joins me soon after.

“That was pathetic, wasn’t it?”

She grins, then pats my chest. “Don’t worry. I love you anyway.”

I chuckle again, then get back to my drying, a new lightness in my chest.

“So if you haven’t told all of us about it, I assume it’s because you’re not together?” Mom says, acting like she’s being sneaky.

“Not really, no.”

“Then why don’t you tell her how you feel? There’s no time to waste.” She smirks. “You’re not getting any younger.”

“I know that, but…” I drag my tongue over my teeth as I imagine what it’d be like to be fully honest with Lexie. How her pink lips might part on a gasp. How her pupils might dilate.

How she might run away and disappear from my life.

“I’m scared,” I say. “What if I tell her how I feel and she says she doesn’t see me that way?” I wouldn’t survive it, I think, if she let me down easy. Not with the way I feel about her, like mountains could move under me and I wouldn’t notice if she was holding my hand.

“Well, that’s always the risk, isn’t it?” Mom says. “But I never took you for a scaredy-cat.”

I snicker. “Excuse me?”

“Come on, Finn. You’ve bungee-jumped and swam with sharks before. I think you can do this too.”

“It’s not the same.” Sharks couldn’t break my heart.

“Maybe, but I also know you won’t get anywhere if you don’t try.”

She’s right, I know she is, but she also doesn’t know how good things are with Lexie right now. She makes me happier than I’ve ever been, like finally, I’m right where I belong. It would be foolish to risk it all because I was greedy and wanted it all.

“Whatever you decide, I know it’ll be the right decision. But for what it’s worth?” She throws me a side glance. “I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you tried.”

Chapter 38

Lexie

ThesecondIfinishzipping my training bag shut, the door to my hotel room opens.

“Oh, good,” Finn says, his grin already spreading to my lips. “I was afraid you’d be asleep already.”

“No chance.” I sit on the bed and lean back, stretching my neck. “Never sleep well the day before a competition.”

It feels surreal to even be in Anaheim right now. I never thought I’d make it to this year, let alone to this day, especially after my foot so gracefully let me down. Yet against all odds, here I am, competing in the World Championships first thing tomorrow morning.

And even luckier than that: I have this man by my side. I didn’t think he was coming, until he showed up at the airport yesterday morning, suitcase in tow and a custom “Team Tuffin” shirt on his back.

I honestly don’t know how I didn’t ask him to marry me on the spot.

He told me then that he was only here for support and not to be a bother, so he got himself his own room and found a way to busy himself today while I went through my last practice sessions. In fact, now’s the first time I’ve seen him since we got here.

“My mom wanted me to ask how you’re feeling,” he says as he takes a seat next to me and twists me so my feet rest in his lap and he can gently massage the one currently wrapped in an elastic bandage.

A smile tugs at my lips. Shelli’s been nothing short of extraordinary to me these past few months. Not only has she accommodated my work hours in order for me to practice as much as possible, but she’s also acted as my coach more times than I can count. When she initially started hanging around late at night, she said it was forsafety reasons, but the moment she gave me a correction on a double layout and I applied it on my next pass, she stopped holding herself back. I know she’d been wanting to do that for a while—she’d even offered to help me with some skills a few times before, but I hadn’t wanted to feel like I was taking advantage of her generosity—but once she decided to be all-in no matter what, there was no changing her mind.

Having her around has been amazing. My skills have improved, but more than that, I’ve discovered someone I now deeply care for. I was with her when I learned I’d made the Worlds team after the selection camp, and while I almost passed out from shock, she celebrated for the both of us, jumping around and shouting like she’d just won the lotto. Having a person I look up to be happy for my happiness was something I didn’t know I needed until that very moment.

---